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larryn58205743
Inspiring
March 1, 2022
Answered

changing the background

  • March 1, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 1709 views

I DID read some info on this in the Elements documentation, but simply cannot get it to work. I'm starting with a very basic video, so I can see how this works. I just took a 10 second of video of myself. Of course, there is the background in this picture, such as the rest of my room, with me talking in the center of the picture.

I now want to take any landscape picture, and I have chosen such a picture, not another video. I have imported this into my project. I have tried choosing this "difference matte" function and dropped this into either the video of me speaking or later just into the landscape pic I chose. I even changed the postion of each, with the video of myself being on the video 2 line, and other times having it on the video 1 line (with the landscape picture on the other line.) I still have no idea how to make only my face  appear in the final result, and have the background around me just consist of the landscape pic in the other video bar. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

LNovik

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer larryn58205743
quote

In the example on that video,  doing that Smoothing step while set to "large" seemed to erase all the unwanted stuff magically like pulling up on the blade of a window cleaner-without affecting the subject in the middle


By @larryn58205743

 

That's because that video chosen works well using the workflow presented.

They wouldn't pick a video that didn't work perfectly for a demonstration like that.

Some videos don't work as well as others.


Ahhh. OK, thanks for explaining that. So, I assume there is no dependable way to change a background unless I have some solid, preferably green screen behind the subject originally. Or else, as you said, I could go from frame to frame--or perhaps just every few frames when the subject moves a little--and perform that 16 point garbage matte again and again. If you think of anything else, please keep me in mind, though I realize that you have questions all the time and can't keep track of each one.

Thanks for all your time.

LNovik

2 replies

B
Community Expert
Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2022

This YouTube might help.  It covers a couple different ways to do it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjW4UGBZCCI

L
larryn58205743Author
Inspiring
March 2, 2022

Thank you for these replies, but I did not find them useful enough to help me. I believe the first video from Bob Peru rec’ed I do my video with an actual green background. The last time I saw one of those was during my CNN tour in Atlanta about 20 years ago. I guess I could buy a very large piece of green oak tag or something, but I was hoping for something less cumbersome. The 2nd video Bob Peru gave me was something I had already seen, but I was not able to do anything with any of those choices.

Bill Sprague sent me a link to what I thought looked like an excellent video on how to do change backgrounds. However, in the very first step, it said to just import your green screen picture or video--I believe specifically he said to import your chroma key shot. I obviously do not have a video or picture with a green background.

I DID see a good reply somewhere that suggested using the Ultra Key effect to create a green background. However, my 2019 Adobe Premiere Elements version does not seem to have an Ultra keying effect choice. I have looked all over for it, though it’s possible I’ve missed it, since others have said they have an ultra effect in their versions. I did look under the Keying effects section of the Effects section, as well as under other sections.

Thanks.

LNovik

Peru Bob
Community Expert
Peru BobCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2022
@larryn58205743 wrote:

using the Ultra Key effect to create a green background.

 

Ultra Key is a Premiere Pro effect, not Premiere Elements. It doesn't create a green background.

It is similar to Chroma Key.  You would still need a green or other color background for it to be useful.

 

@larryn58205743 wrote:

I obviously do not have a video or picture with a green background.

 

You really would need to use an application like After Effects with rotoscope or rotobrush to key out your background.  Depending upon the footage, it could be a very labor intensive task.

Peru Bob
Community Expert
Peru BobCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 1, 2022

You need to have a green screen behind you. Then you can key it out. 

This is for Premiere Pro, but it can be done in Premiere Elements.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/discover/how-to-use-green-screen.html

See here too:

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-elements/using/superimposing-transparency.html#superimposing_and_transparency

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